Younger Men
by fuzzyalligator
Summary: Lily says she doesn't date younger guys. Well, James has a solution for that.


Title: Younger Men  
><span>Author<span>: fuzzyalligator  
><span>Rating<span>: K+  
><span>Genre<span>: Romance, Humor  
><span>Disclaimer<span>: Not mine. I'm just playing around with them for a bit until I have to return them.

A/N: This story has been in the back of my mind ever since I found out Lily was a few months older than James. I figure she'd used that excuse at least once when he was trying to win her affection.

oO0Oo

"And then flowers suddenly appeared from his sleeve," Alice explained excitedly to Lily as they walked around the Black Lake. "And Frank didn't even use his wand. I didn't know he'd gotten so good at Wandless magic."

The redheaded Gryffindor giggled quietly, knowing exactly what the older boy had done. It was a Muggle magic trick. The flowers had simply been hidden inside Frank's sleeve and he just pulled them out. But she didn't want to spoil his secret so she kept quiet.

"When are you going out with him again?" she asked instead as they slowly walked together. It was a perfect spring afternoon and the two sixth years had agreed to take a break from their studying.

Alice blushed and looked at her best friend. "Tonight," she said and both girls giggled. Ever since Alice had agreed to go out with the seventh year, Frank barely left her side. If he didn't have such a loving look on his face when the couple were together, Lily might have been a little worried.

Before either of them could say anything a group of first years walked up to them. For an instant Lily thought it was because she was the Gryffindor Prefect until she realized the kids came from Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, and Hufflepuff. She was about to ask them what was wrong but was interrupted by the tallest girl started to talk.

No, not talk. Sing.

"Lily Evans is so pretty," the young Ravenclaw sang and was soon joined by the others.

"_Her hair reminds me of the Quaffle  
>As it soars across the pitch.<br>Even emeralds cannot compare  
>To the beautiful green of her eyes.<em>

_She's the kindest girl  
>That is in this world<br>So, won't you be kind  
>And say you'll go out with me?<em>"

By the time the short song ended, a large group of students had surrounded the choir of first years and the two Gryffindor girls. Some of the bystanders were trying to hold in their laughter while others were openly gawking.

The younger students smiled at Lily sweetly before running off in random directions. Only one boy stayed behind. He held out a letter to Lily and after she took it, he fled just as the others had.

Everyone waited silently for her to open the letter, expecting to see something grand to finish off Potter's – yes, they all knew this was him – plan to woo Lily. Instead of giving them the satisfaction, she pulled her wand out of her pocket and _Incedio_'d it.

Some booed her while the majority simply left.

Lily tried to take some calming breaths before she went searching for the irritating prat. Alice watched as she stormed off and followed at a much slower pace.

oO0Oo

It was really easy to find James along with Sirius and Peter. The three boys were standing just inside the Entrance Hall, the tallest wearing a proud grin. "Did you like it, Evans?"

Lily glared at him. "Why did you have to do that?" she asked, and was proud that her voice didn't waver from anger. Sure, he'd done other things in the past to get her attention, almost all of them much more extravagant. But this had been the most embarrassing.

James just shrugged and pushed away from the wall where he'd been leaning. Sirius shook his head in sympathy, knowing exactly where this was going to end up but knew there was nothing he could do to stop it. Might as well enjoy the rejection.

"Well?" James asked ignoring her question and leaned in close. "Will you go out with me?"

It looked like she was about to burst from anger. But the fury quickly changed into smugness as she thought of something. "Sorry, but I don't date younger guys," she said with a sweet smile and enjoyed the confused look on James' face.

"What?"

Alice walked up to Lily's side and actually laughed at James' expression, it wasn't often he was confused. Slowly, as if she were explaining something to a young child, Lily repeated, "I don't date younger guys." She hooked arms with Alice and the two girls headed back outside.

"You're only a few months older than me!" James called to their backs but got no response.

Peter and Sirius exchanged looks and the ex-heir couldn't help but smirk. "Poor little Prongsie," he said in a tiny voice. "He's too young for Evans. Too bad."

"I'm not little," James said and walked so he was standing right in front of Sirius, proving that he wasn't little. "I'm taller than you."

Sirius just chuckled and walked away. James glared at his retreating back while he planned.

oO0Oo

"Help me, Moony," James pleaded later that night. Right after the incident with Lily, James had gone to the library in hopes of finding the young werewolf for help. But someone – probably Sirius – had informed Remus so he and the Map were nowhere to be found until after dinner.

Remus rubbed his temples as James continued to plead and whine for his help. Although this had been happening since their first year, Remus became annoyed at his antics. "But _why_ did you do it?" he finally asked loudly. "I said that _you_ should recite the poem. Not turn it into a bloody love song and have first years do it for you. First years, James!"

James silently knelt in front of Remus while he ranted and waited for him to be done. "Because Evans' is always bragging about how the firsties look up to her. It wasn't that hard to get them to help me. And I thought she might like it."

"You thought she would like being humiliated in front of everyone?" Remus asked, although he already knew the answer. Before his friend could explain, he held up a hand to stop him. "I'm going to tell you the two sure fire ways to get _Lily_ to at least consider. Be nice to her and call her by her name. You know she hates it when you call her Evans."

With that said, he stood and pushed past James to go to their shared dorm room. Peter had already gone up their after dinner, remembering that he still hadn't finished an essay, so it was just James and Sirius down in the common room.

Sirius had watched the entire scene from a spot nearby. "So, what're you going to do?" he asked, getting up from the couch. His best friend was still kneeling in front of the unoccupied chair thinking hard.

A few minutes went by as James thought. Finally, a smile formed. "She said she doesn't date _younger_ guys, right?" he asked, looking up at his best friend. He stood when Sirius nodded and waited for him to continue. "Then why don't I just become older?"

Sirius looked at him quizzically then knew exactly what he was thinking about. "Guess we need to go to the library," he said with a smirk.

oO0Oo

A few days went by and Lily had rarely seen James. The last time this had happened, he'd filled the Great Hall with Pixies because he thought "the blue would look lovely with her green eyes." So Lily was very weary whenever she entered a room.

It wasn't until a week later when she found out what the boy had been up to.

"Have you finished your Transfiguration essay?" Remus asked as he finished off his own. Lily nodded and the two exchanged essays, each going over the others.

Lily had made it through half the essay when someone said her name. The voice sounded familiar but she couldn't place it. But when she looked up, she knew exactly who it was. "Potter?" she asked mystified.

"Hi, Evans." The man before her _did_ look like James but looked five years older. He smiled at her and took the seat opposite his friend. Tearing her eyes away from the older prick, she turned to glare at Remus who had continued reading during everything.

"Did you know about this?" she asked him incredulously.

Remus finished reading a sentence before looking up. "Yes, but it wasn't my idea," he confessed and his eyes went wide when he finally looked at his friend. "Merlin…I can't believe it really worked."

"Were you expecting Padfoot to fail?" James asked with a self-righteous smirk. He leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms over his chest. "So, when should I pick you up, Evans?"

The redhead looked at him confused once more, "What are you talking about?"

James smiled at him. "Don't you remember? You said that you didn't date younger blokes. Well, I'm not younger than you anymore. What time should I pick you up?"

Lily stared at him stunned for a moment before shaking her head in disbelief. "I can't believe this," she mumbled and collected her things. She ignored James' protests and bid farewell to Remus when she grabbed her essay.

"We'll continue later," Remus said with a wave then looked back to the dejected James. "Did you really think this would work?"

James glared at him and slouched down into his chair so he could pout properly. "You could have stopped us," he commented as Remus slowly packed his own things.

The young werewolf chuckled, "I tried, remember?" Both stood and James went to hide out in the common room while he waited for the potion to wear off.

oO0Oo

James was sulking in the common room after everyone had gone to bed later that night. He'd been so sure that Lily would agree to go on one date with him when she saw him older. How could she resist a good looking older man?

It was so quiet in the common room, that when James heard a door shut behind him, he actually jumped in his seat. On tiptoes, a first year boy snuck down the stairs. James heard him sniffle as he hurried over to the staircase leading to the girls' dormitory.

Before he could call out a warning, the young boy stepped down and the staircase changed into a slide. The tall boy got up from his seat and over to the little boy. "What're you doing?" he asked, trying to sound stern and failed.

The first year looked shocked and ashamed that he'd been caught sneaking about. "N-nothing," he mumbled and turned to go back to his own dorm.

With a sigh, James gently grabbed his shoulder and knelt down. "What's wrong?" he asked softly, trying to soothe the boy.

He sniffled once more before looking at James. "I had a nightmare," he admitted in shame.

James chuckled lightly and pulled the boy into a hug on impulse. Whenever he had a nightmare when he was younger, a hug from his mum always made him feel better. He hoped it would work for the young boy.

The small first year froze but then hugged him back tightly. They embraced for a few seconds and the boy pulled away. "Thanks," he said with a small smile then hurried back to his own room.

James watched him leave as he stood and smiled. Sometimes it was nice to make someone feel better.

"There's hope for you yet, Potter." James spun around to see Lily walking towards the girls' dormitory. He was about to respond but stopped when he saw Remus shaking his head. The two boys exchanged looks and headed up to their own dorm.

Lily chuckled when she heard James' excited shout before she opened the door to go to bed.

oO0Oo

**_Review?_**


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